If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

I have a really weak stomach! And! The only baby diapers I could change without gagging belonged to my children. Yet, love will help you endure things for others beyond what your stomach can handle.

When I was a little girl and my mom was a young woman, the first thing she taught me when using public restrooms was to squat over the toilet. Later, I learned to line public toilets with toilet paper if I had to rid my body of soiled waste. Well-any-who! Age and my mom’s illness robbed her of being able to do either; therefore, during her Oncology visits she would say, “Annette, I gotta go to the bathroom.”

Her soft and gentle request would prompt me to grab my bag that I had packed full of cleaning products, her medicine pole as she closely followed me to the nearest bathroom. Sometimes all I would have to do is wipe the toilet seat with a Clorox Wet Wipe; but, there would be times I would have to clean the toilet because feces and or urine would be very visible. It was those days my poor mom would say, “Hurry up!” She had no clue I was hurrying and I had no clue how her bladder was screaming to her that it wanted to be relieved. But! The one thing she knew during our bathroom breaks was she was loved. She truly understood I was going beyond my ability to help her when she could no longer squat and or make public toilets safe for her to use.

Those bathroom cleaning days are gone but I would gladly return to them if it meant I could have my mom back. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of her. And, I’d forgotten the bathroom moments until my son shared how his friend is bravely fighting cancer.

I wrote the above to write this: Sometimes people lose control over their body functions as their illnesses rob them of feeling alive, truly alive. It’s during those times when they need small favors without strings attached to remind them to hang in there and continue fighting for their life because they are loved. Let’s pray!

PRAYER

Father God, you know the secret places of everyone. You know how to reach us as communities, groups and as individuals. Today, I humbly ask that you put on the hearts of many to visit the sick and shut in. Inspire them to give life and meaning to your words by allowing their kind actions to comfort those that are sick. Amen